Question

Choose the option that best completes the sentence correctly:
                   Now the sun _________.
(a)shine
(b)Has been shining
(c)Has shone
(d)Is shining

Answer 1

Hint: We have to select the appropriate tense. The hint is in the word "Now". So it is in the present tense. Present means "now" so select the word which agrees with the present tense.

Complete answer: The present continuous (also called present progressive) is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing action is happening now, either at the moment of speech or now in a larger sense and it can also be used to show that an action is going to take place shortly.
(a)’ Shine’- It is not the right option because the term shine is to be used with plural nouns. For example, the stars shine brightly in a night sky. But Sun is a singular noun. So we cannot use "shine". It has to be "shines".
(b)’Has been shining’- It is not the right option because "has been shining" implies that the sun has been shining for quite some time now so the starting point has been some time in the past. But the given sentence uses the term "now" to signify that the starting point is now. For example: Even though the weather forecast showed it to be a rainy day, the sun has been shining since 6 AM.
(c)‘Has shone’- It is not the right option because “has shone” is in the past tense. “Has shone” means that it has already shone. Something which has started in the past and has probably ended too. For example: For the first time in the history of winters in Punjab, the sun has shone every single day.
(d)’is shining’- It is the correct answer because "is shining" is present continuous tense. "Now the sun is shining" is the correct answer. Thus the correct answer is option d.

Note: Always see which tense has already been used in the sentence. That is the biggest clue for choosing the correct answer. All tenses in one sentence are the same.